A Staple of Storm Lake’s Ride/Run Sets Sights on 50 Years
Longtime Storm Lake Community School District educator and coach celebrates Cornerstone Guard at BVU’s Homecoming in October
John Brostad ’73 celebrates the 50th anniversary of his Buena Vista graduation at Homecoming this fall with induction into BVU’s Cornerstone Guard.
How did he celebrate Independence Day? He competed in the Storm Lake Star Spangled Spectacular Ride/Run around Storm Lake, a tradition he’s enjoyed for more than four decades.
The two-person race covering 11.1 miles attracted 100 participants on July 4. Brostad, 71, welcomed them all as he explained the rules at the starting line.
“It’s a race that gets our huge July 4 celebration off to a great start on the morning of the holiday,” says Brostad. “I spoke with a competitor who recently moved to Storm Lake, and they loved participating in the Ride/Run. They said they’d tell their friends and invite them to come back. The race is super public relations for us.”
The event, which traces its origins to the Storm Lake YMCA and Storm Laker Clark Fort, requires teams to bike and run in a route that encircles the lake, beginning and ending at the intersection of Lakeshore Drive and Lake Avenue. One member of the team begins on the bike; the other runs. They designate a point at which the bike will be left for the trail runner, and so on.
“People have a lot of fun seeing Storm Lake in a competitive perspective like this. My goal is to make it to 50 Ride/Run events.”
John Brostad, 1973 BVU graduate
Brostad and his 2023 race partner, son Michael Brostad ’04, finished in 74 minutes. Taylor and Evan Huseman, of Team Huseman, won in 49 minutes, 41 seconds.
“To finish in under 50 minutes is just flying,” says John Brostad, a 36-year teaching veteran who coached track and cross country at Storm Lake High School for 33 and 31 years, respectively. “We had six teams finish in under an hour on Tuesday.”
BVU President Brian Lenzmeier ran and biked with Benji Kasel ’98, of Le Mars. Kasel joined his wife, Lori (Stevenson) Kasel ’99, in taking part in the day’s festivities for the first time, after answering the President’s call on social media.
“I was looking for an alum who maybe wanted to do the Ride/Run with me,” Lenzmeier says. “Benji answered quickly, saying he was up for the challenge. We had a great time together.”
As the Kasels’ son, Teagen, fished off the President’s dock, his mother and father participated in the Big Parade, which followed the Ride/Run. Their daughter, BVU sophomore to-be Kenna, had recently spent time on campus as part of the Orientation Team readying incoming first-year BVU students.
“I don’t know of any place that does something quite like this,” Brostad says. “People have a lot of fun seeing Storm Lake in a competitive perspective like this. My goal is to make it to 50 Ride/Run events.”
John Brostad joined Fort and the late Dr. Jonathan Hruska in being the only competitors to complete the first decade of this event. Fort missed his first race in 44 years on Tuesday as he faces knee replacement surgery. Brostad, who has surgery for a torn meniscus today (Friday), allowed himself some training latitude that enabled him to complete the race. He spent most of his time riding his bike in preparation.
“I would have competed with President Lenzmeier as I saw his question on social media,” Brostad says. “But I was a bit fearful my knee might lock up during the race. That’s why it was better for me to race with one of our sons.”
John Brostad has competed with 19 Ride/Run partners through the years, including sons Jared Brostad ’00 and Matt Brostad ’04. It is a family of Beavers as both John’s late mother, Jean (Schramm) Brostad ’60 and his wife, Roxie (Click) Brostad ’73, are also BV graduates, giving them six in their immediate family.
“Mike looked at me at the start of the race and said, ‘We’ve never competed in this together,’” John Brostad says. “I’d competed with our other sons three or four times each.”
“Dad has always inspired me to push my limits,” says Mike Brostad. “Competing is always memorable; being able to compete in the Ride/Run with my 71-year-old father is a memory I’ll always cherish.”
The 44th edition of the Ride/Run helped welcome thousands of visitors to Storm Lake for the community’s sesquicentennial celebration that coincided with the Star Spangled Spectacular, a community-wide endeavor directed this summer by Commodores (and BVU graduates) Jared ’10 and Ty (Zimmerman) Eggers ’10.